MAKATI CITY, Philippines – In the age of digital cameras and mobile phones, the film business is slowly ebbing away. But Eastman Kodak, the purveyor of film, still believes about 5 million to 6 million rolls are still being sold every year in the Philippines.

Eastman Kodak Asia Pacific General Manager Lee Ki Bong said the strong sale of film comes from many Filipinos still unable to buy digital cameras. Compared to a basic digital camera, a film-based camera costs only less than P1,000 while the film is about P100.

In addition, film is also bought by camera enthusiasts and hobbyists many of whom are either collectors of vintage models or are into art photography.

“The Philippines still has a market for film because they’re cheaper and easier to use. Of course, this is just one segment that Kodak is targeting in the country. We wan to drive the business of cost-effective photography products for all market sectors,” Lee said in an interview.

The Philippines is a unique market in the Asian region due to the camera-loving nature of Filipinos. This is proven by the increasing demand for digital cameras and mobile phones with integrated digital cameras.

The company is also leveraging on its ever-present brand recall; “kodakan” is a Filipino colloquialism for picture-taking and is often used in groups who want to be taken a photograph.

As such, Lee said the company is rebuilding its brand through channel partners who would be distributing their devices. Lee noted that some of the machines they are selling in the country are their photofinishing machines used by retail photo developers.

Incidentally, one of its more popular devices is the photoprinting kiosks, which look like small automated teller machines. These are used to do quick printing of photos taking from digital cameras.

“Filipinos love to print their photos and not just store these in their digital devices, which is why digital photoprinting services is popular,” Lee said.

In the coming months, Lee said the company would be bringing in more devices, which will include digital cameras below the P6,000 mark and digital photo frames.

“By introducing cheaper digital devices, we’d be able to address new and larger market,” Lee said.